Album review: '808s & Heartbreak,' by Kanye West

Monday

Nov 24, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 24, 2008 at 2:24 PM

Kanye West's "808s and Heartbreak" wants to juxtaposition the intricacies of the modern relationship with the simplicity of one of hip-hop's classic weapons, the 808 drum machine. But with too little in the way of soundscapes and too much when it comes to everyone's favorite new toy, the Auto-Tune, it largely fizzles when it should pop.

Patrick Varine

It’s easy to respect Kanye West’s ambition. One Rolling Stone reviewer once wrote of the Chicago native’s production, “Give ‘Ye a harpsichord and he will make it funky.”

Unfortunately, that ambition is almost completely wasted on "808s & Heartbreaks." In places where it has the potential to be interesting, the album seems to fall flat on its face, and the more-traditionally hip-hop moments are just sort of all right in terms of Kanye's past production quality.

Case in point: the opener, “Say You Will,” which starts with a tom-tom paired up alongside a few digital bleeps… and stays that way for the next 6:18. A driving piano melody provides the backbone for “Welcome to Heartbreak,” but the part that SHOULD be driving it, the BEAT, has had all the treble removed and is playing the background.

Modern rap fans will probably begin the hating here by attacking my well-documented fondness for classic boom-bap, mid-‘90s-era hip-hop, and by all means, hate away. But that’s not it. I understand the concept for the record, it’s right there in the title: a juxtaposition of the intricacies of modern relationships with the simplistic sounds of the 808, which defined another of hip-hop’s classic eras.

What I’m trying to say is that too many of the songs here seem overly, intentionally simplistic, like ‘Ye is trying to drive the metaphor home with a sledgehammer and, unfortunately, it makes for a lot of sluggish songs during the course of "808’s" 52 minutes (relatively short for a Kanye album).

The most mystifying part about all this is his album-long penchant for everybody's new favorite musical toy, the Auto-Tune. Now, someone like Lil’ Wayne, who has no discernible singing talent? I understand why HE would want to Auto-Tune himself into submission. But it just doesn’t make sense here, particularly given that Kanye’s actually got a pretty good singing voice (the several times he sings sans digital assistance, he sounds just fine).

But on "808s," with its already-spare soundscapes, his voice plays front and center, and all of the manipulation gives things a weird, plasticized feeling. That leaves mainly the lyrics, and it's hard to turn a clever, punchy phrase as an R&B robot. The songs cover fairly generic love/hate/make-ups-to-break-ups, which in turn throws the spotlight back on the production, that at times sounds almost like an unfinished version of a regular mid-tempo Kanye song.

But even the Kanye West Mid-Tempo Jam has taken on a lot more character in the past. Not so much here.

I’m not totally down on it, though: “Heartless” works a bouncy flute loop and Kanye actually sings, sounding just fine; “Amazing” replaces Southern bounce with a heavy piano and organic percussion, providing a nice bedrock for Young Jeezy’s guest verse, and “Paranoid” is an modern uptempo take on ‘80s synth glam.

But the first single, “Love Lockdown,” largely misrepresents the depth of "808s & Heartbreaks." It’s a good example of what I think ‘Ye might have been shooting for on the whole album.

An R&B record with almost no harmony? Even T-Pain knows better than that. He uses Auto-Tune better, too, now that I think about it.